Queen
by TerraZeal
Summary: Varian meets an odd member of SI:7 and is almost instantly intrigued by her. NOT a self-insert/OC/Mary Sue. Canon female character. This is AU.


_AN: I feel like Varian needs a love interest. And I couldn't think of anyone who could possibly be any better (except Garrosh, for the lulz). Yes, it is AU. No, it is NOT slash._

_**Queen**_

King Wrynn paced his chambers restlessly. He'd had a very uneventful day. No Harrison Jones ragging on him about something. No Tirion Fordring babbling about the sexual favors A'dal provided, or whatever the hell he talked about. Not even Genn Greymane and his unfortunate wet-dog smell was permeating the air, not that Genn could help it. Not even his own son would have anything to do with him today! Anduin was currently in the Exodar, communing with the Light, or so he said.

Varian had seen Anduin walking the streets of Stormwind, leaning intimately upon the shoulders of a lovely young female Draenei Vindicator. He frowned in irritation, but then wondered whether it would REALLY be a bad thing if the future queen of Stormwind happened to be a Draenei. It would solidify the alliance between the Draenei and the humans, and draenei were proven to be able to produce children with other races...powerful children..._just look at Med'an_...he mused.

Other things...the Sha, for instance, he did not want to think of them. That monster, Garrosh, had indeed found a way to summon them outside of Pandaria without the Divine Bell and was raining all sorts of negative emotions on Alliance (and even his own Horde!) settlements. It was chaos. Not even the newly re-empowered Aspects were able to fight the Sha. He had heard of what happened when the Life Queen tried to take down the Sha of Pride by herself. That WAS Pride. Thinking that she alone could take it down. It fed on her pride, she flew away keening, screaming in failure, believing her pride to be what had killed Krasus.

The other Aspects had not faired so well either. The Time Lord had been beaten by the Sha of Anger, his own anger at knowing how and when he would die and not being able to stop it had sent him fleeing. Ysera's doubt had defeated her. She had failed Eranikus. She had allowed the Nightmare to corrupt The Dreaming. She doubted she would ever be strong enough to fully defeat the Nightmare. The vile Naga Queen Azshara and her benefactor N'zoth plagued the Nightmare still.

Seven Sha, but five Aspects. The Earth Warder and the Steward of Magic had also failed, but not as badly as the other Aspects. Varian had had hope when the Earth Warder went up against the Sha of Despair, but the Sha fed on all the despair he felt for failing his parents, Taretha, Jaina, for letting that monster Garrosh turn the Horde into a dictatorship, and, of course, for letting his best friend Cairne Bloodhoof fall to a cowardly monster's poisoned blow.

The Lord of Magic had fallen victim to Hatred. The Sha of Hate fed upon his hatred of Garrosh, the orcs, and the entire Horde for what they had done to Theramore and his beloved Jaina. And it hadn't ended there. His hatred for Kil'jaeden was almost worse. He had had Velen, an Eredar himself and Kil'jaeden's brother, in his claws before Jaina herself intervened and told him that he would be no worse than the Deceiver if he killed this Divine being and that it was only the Sha controlling his actions. The blue had backed down, still reeling from the torment of Jaina and the death of Anveena.

Perhaps it was time to employ the best of the best. Not the heroes of Azeroth that helped, but SI:7, the elite assassins meant to strike quickly, silently, and deadly. They were also purported to have no emotions, nothing for the Sha to feed upon. The King gestured to a nearby guard and asked him to summon several members of SI:7 to his chambers.

Greymane walked out of a nearby room and, being rude as always, interrupted.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it would do the people and the SI:7 well if their king went to them rather than the other way around. You, yourself, are a member of SI:7, trained as well as they, but without their lack of emotions."

Varian grimaced at the Worgen, who was, indeed, wearing his Worgen form, likely just to annoy Varian or frighten guests.

"As rude as you ever are, perhaps you are right. It has been some time since I brushed up on my assassin training. Of course, no matter how good they are, they cannot beat me."

The King grinned, blood heating. The thought of battle had brought him out of his bored malaise. The King strode out of the throne room, leaving Greymane to take care of any royal matters. He was, after all, a king himself, although a very rude one. Once outside the keep,he called to his hippogryph from the nearby stables. It came loyally. He bade it fly to SI:7 headquarters.

A dwarf with a pet raccoon at his side greeted him and introduced the raccoon as Socks Jr. Varian did not care in the slightest. A bang rang out, followed by loud swearing and then sobbing. He looked down. Somehow, Socks Jr. had fallen victim to a sniper shot. A human female on the ramparts yelled her apologies. The dwarf continued sobbing. Varian left the poor fellow to his fallen pet.

"Soooocks! Whyyy must you always leave meeee!?" Sully continued to howl in grief, tears streaking his bushy beard.

As soon as he entered the building, the rest of SI:7 (those not shooting at small pets, anyway) all bowed to the king and hailed his majesty. The leader of SI:7, Mathias Shaw, bowed low to the king.

"Your Majesty. What brings you to our humble training grounds? Wait, no, let me guess. You want to put a hit out on Garrosh. You want us to take him out."

Varian frowned deeply and glared at Mathias. The woman standing behind him giggled into her hands a little, giving Varian a mocking smile and salute. She stepped forward when Varian returned her salute earnestly.

"Forgive me, Master Shaw. Allow me to explain something to His Majesty." The woman's lips twitched beneath her dark hood, "Garrosh will be expecting us. Do you not honestly think Mathias hasn't put many of his best men (and women) to the task? They _failed _your Majesty! FAILED! No one will take out that monster with brute strength."

He continued to glower at the woman. "May I ask who you are? Did YOU participate in the attacks on Orgrimmar yourself? Did you see the failures?"

She pushed her hood back, revealing the most beautiful shining silver hair he had ever seen. Her eyes were as blue as the sky on a clear day. Varian realized how speechless he was. This woman was older than he, that was for certain, but, by the Light, she was beautiful. When she smiled, her entire face lit up. Varian was oddly reminded of the Night Elf goddess Elune when he looked at her silvery hair.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I went on every raid that SI:7 sent to Orgrimmar. I have scars all over my body. Scars that not even the Light could heal." She smiled again. Varian noticed something that looked like a burn scar on the left side of her face. On anyone else, it would have looked revolting. On this woman, it simply made her look even more striking, if that were possible.

"Your name, miss? I am the King. The least a lowly member of my army could do is give me their name." He regretted his harsh words toward this lovely woman, but he was going to find out who she was if it killed him.

She cocked her head slightly at him. "We've met. Once. A long time ago. I have changed too much for you to remember. My name is Calia Hastings. I was in Theramore when the bomb...but Jaina...the portal...someone saved..." the woman's voice seemed to be choked with emotions.

Varian's brow wrinkled. "How did you escape? Did you go through the portal?"

Calia shook her head. "The portal was there, was open...but why should I run while my people die? A...a queen dies with her people." There were tears in the woman's icy blue eyes. "I don't know how I lived. Someone saved me. I don't...I mean...I think it was...but I can't be sure...he's dead..." Calia trailed off, her voice trembling a bit near the end.

"What do you think saved you, Miss Hasting? If it was being of good and Light, we need all the help we can get against Garrosh and the Sha. I also heard that the Klaxxi finally chose a side. No longer neutral, they worship Garrosh Hellscream as their god. We have more on our hands than we could have ever expected..."

"Your Majesty, I...don't know. I don't know if you will believe me, but I think it was my brother's ghost. I...I cannot say anything else. People always looks at me as if I am insane when I tell them my story..."

Varian stared at the woman. This wasn't the first time people had been saved by ghosts. The ghost of King Terenas had saved the heroes of Azeroth when Arthas had slain them all...and then the Light had given Fordring the power to defeat him once and for all. Varian did not think this lovely woman was insane.

"Miss...Hastings? Would be able to spare a moment to walk with me?"

"As you wish, Your Majesty. You may call me Calia, if you wish. I am no one. You are the King." Calia fell into step beside Varian. The King ignored Mathias Shaw's irritated remarks.

The walked through Stormwind, toward the cemetery. They came to a beautiful grove of flowers and a grave adorned with the name 'Tiffin Ellerian Wrynn'.

Calia bent down and brushed the grave with her fingertips. "Your wife's grave. My brother...he never had a grave. Maybe he didn't deserve one. My father's grave is unkempt and likely defiled daily...My family...we all turned out to be worthless, didn't we? That's why I joined SI:7. I didn't want to feel. I didn't want the pain to break me..." Tears were trailing softly down Calia's scared face.

Varian's heart ached for this woman. He had only just met her, but he felt he knew her, somehow. He wrapped his large arms around Calia, comforting the sobbing young woman. Crying over a broken family. A family even more broken than his own. Calia sobbed for a few minutes before getting a hold of herself and pushing Varian away harshly.

"I'm not weak. I'm not. I am far better than any of those morons back there, Your Majesty. If you want someone from SI:7 to work for you, I will. This...what happened here...will never happen again." She stood straight and stared Varian directly in the eyes.

"I don't think I could have chosen any one else. I...as soon as I saw you, I knew you were the one. You're strong. Stronger than they are. BECAUSE you have emotions, but you have come to control those emotions. The only one that bothers you is your brother's death without closure. I can give you closure Calia. Just tell me of your brother. What was his name? What was he like?"

Calia looked up at Varian miserably.


End file.
